The Downs pivoting toward ‘the meat’ of the Scarborough downtown development

With formal site plans submitted this week for a Market Basket, a retail, and a mixed-use building, The Downs in Scarborough is approaching “the meat” of the downtown project, developers say. Other than some commercial spaces, such as Maine’s first Costco and the development’s light industrial Innovation District, a lot of what has been built at The Downs so far is housing – 622 units and counting. One primary concern of Scarborough residents in recent years has been traffic. While The Downs, town and state are collaborating on a series of roadway and traffic improvements surrounding the development to accommodate its impact, traffic is one of the few tangible effects residents have felt from the development – at least so far. Recently, The Downs has been pivoting to the town center portion of the project and developers plan for that to evolve into a gathering space and destination for the community, with a central green surrounded by shops, restaurants, breweries and other amenities.